PARENTS now face major consequences for their children’s actions, whether they are aware of them or not.
One state is holding parents accountable for any laws their children, who are under the age of 18, break.
Some parents will face fines or jail time if their children break any laws, ranging from drunkenness to felonies.
The Gloucester Township Council in New Jersey has announced that any parent who fails to prevent their child from committing a crime will face up to 90 days in jail or fines totaling $2,000.
The council has identified 28 crimes that could result in parents being fined or jailed.
Some of these crimes include felonies, disorderly conduct, associating with thieves, gambling, and idly roaming the streets, among others.
Harsher penalties will be assigned to parents of children who are repeat offenders.
OUT OF CONTROL
The new consequences come one year after a massive brawl erupted at a community drone show in South Jersey.
The crowd of the show grew to 500 people, with kids and young adults making up the majority of the viewers, NJ.com reported.
Multiple fights broke out throughout the show, leading to the arrest of eleven people.
Of the eleven arrests, nine involved teenagers.
The ages of the arrested teens were 13-17, with seven of the arrestees being boys and three being girls.
All of the teens arrested were charged with disorderly conduct and then released to their homes.
During the fights, three police officers were injured and sustained minor injuries.
“The lawlessness of groups of unsupervised juveniles and young people acting with total disregard for others ruined a great family-oriented event, which has taken place to raise funds for the Gloucester Township Scholarship Committee for over 40 years,’’ Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins told the outlet at the time.
“This type of lawlessness and violent riotous behavior will not be tolerated, and will not define the great community of Gloucester Township.”
The fighting first began at 8:40 pm, as officers say the young adults ran “recklessly” through the crowd of families and children.
A few weeks earlier, during Memorial Day weekend in 2024, teenagers broke out into a fight in Cape May, leading to a 15-year-old being stabbed.
“Out of control juveniles with no accountability is not limited to the Jersey shore,’’ the New Jersey PBA statement said.
“Officers were injured, and the event was canceled yesterday. Things must change.’’
Harkins said he’s glad the fights didn’t lead to larger injuries.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/14981031/gloucester-township-council-new-jersey-parents/